PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS
Page 46 – THE GERMAN CASTLE
THE GERMAN CASTLE.—The most notable feature of the German Village in Midway Plaisance was, assuredly, the German Castle, a manner of structure with which very few save foreign visitors were at, all familiar. It bore little resemblance to the ideal fortress of the Middle Ages, even to those upon the Rhine whence robber barons descended upon passing bodies of traders or to make war upon rival lords. The castle was a specimen of South German architecture especially and was surrounded by a fosse and moat which, however, gave it only a mildly martial appearance. It was rather homelike and graceful in outline than otherwise, and, while it afforded slight suggestion of long resistance to a siege, gave an idea of jolly gatherings and unlimited good cheer within, a sort of manor house rather than a fort. The interior of the castle afforded, in its contents, matter of interest for the antiquarian quite as much as did the exterior to the architect. Here was arranged the large collection of antique armor which attracted so much attention and afforded such an excellent object lesson regarding the burden a medieval German of importance had to carry, aside from the cares of governing his domain. Though but a private enterprise and built, as were all the Plaisance structures, as an investment, the German Castle was an educational object of decided value and was so recognized. It had the merit, which did not in every instance appertain to the Plaisance exhibits, that it was at least historically correct in its representation and that its contents were something more than replicas.
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